Discharge chute for rotary snow plow



April 26, 1955 A. 'r. KEAR 2,706,864

DISCHARGE CHUTE FOR ROTARY snow PLOW Filed Feb. 23, 195] 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 m 111.1. Kean INVENTOR,

ATTORNEYS April 26, 1955 A. 'r. KEAR DISCHARGE CHUTE FOR ROTARY snow PLOW 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 23, 1951 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS April 26, 1955 KEAR 2,706,864

DISCHARGE CHUTE FOR ROTARY SNOW PLOW Filed Feb. 23, 1951 s Shets-Sheet a ATTORNEYS United States Patent This invention relates to a snow plow, and more particularly, has reference to a snow plow of the rotary type,

such as can be effectively used in the removal of snow Y from highways, streets, airports, and the like.

The present invention is an improvement over the snow plow construction shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 88,701, filed April 21, 1949, now Patent No. 2,545,470. The present application is a continuationin-part of said co-pending application.

One important object of the present invention is to provide an improved drum construction, designed to permit the passage of more air through the snow plow, as might be desirable, for example, in the case of a very light snow.

Another important object is to provide an improved discharge chute construction whereby the operator can with ease and facility adjust the discharge chute to permit the discharge of the snow laterally of the plow in either direction, while still permitting the snow to enter the chute through the full width of the plow, and while still allowing passage of the snow through the chute without compacting the mass or obstructing its passage through the chute in any way.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved construction.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of the plow as viewed from the side opposite that illustrated in Fig. 2, portions being broken away.

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevational view of the chute, the dotted lines illustrating positions to which the chute is adjustable.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the chute.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the drum.

Referring to the drawings in detail, a suitable vehicle on which the snow plow is mounted is designated 1, and can comprise a truck, tractor, or the like. In the present instance the device is illustrated as being mounted upon the front of a truck, but I believe it will be apparent from the description to be provided hereinafter that the plow can, rather, be embodied in a self-propelled vehicle if desired.

In any event, in the present instance there extends from a suitable power plant, not shown, mounted upon the truck 1, a power shaft 2. It is believed to be sufiiciently obvious as not to require special illustration herein that the shaft 2 can have a sliding universal connection with the power plant of the vehicle, so as to be still retained in driving relationship to the snow plow in any position to which the snow plow may be adjusted upwardly or downwardly.

Rotated by the shaft 2 is a drive gear 3, in mesh with the gear 4 that rotates the shaft 5 mounted upon the back of the snow plow frame, and extending laterally beyond one side of said frame, where it is provided with and rotates a sprocket 6 around which passes chain 7 driving large sprocket 8 secured to and rotating a stub shaft 9.

The parts so far described constitute the means which I have provided in the present instance for the purpose of driving the snow wheel or drum of the plow, which will be described presently.

The drum is mounted rotatably in a housing having vertical approximately rectangular side walls 10 which can be metal plates, said side walls being flared outwardly as at 11, along their leading edges.

Formed in the respective side walls 10 are large preferably rectangular air entrance openings 12. In height, these extend from a location near the bottom edges of the side walls, terminating close to the upper edges. Thus, the openings are proportioned in this respect to be abreast of, and correspond in height substantially to the diameter of, the drum enclosed between the side walls. This may readily be noted from Fig. 3.

In width, the openings are desirably proportioned so as to be substantially equal in width to the radius of the rum.

As a result, location of the openings in the forward or leading portions of the respective side walls exposes the front or leading half of the drum, at opposite ends of the drum, so that air can be drawn in through the side walls for inter-mixing with snow passing into the drum. The trailing half of the drum, Where the snow is discharged into the chute, is enclosed by the solid portions of the side walls 19 so that all snow passing through the drum will be required to move through the chute.

Rigid with and extending between the respective side walls 10 is a drum cylinder 13, said cylinder being open at the front of the drum housing. The open portion of the cylinder extends part way from front to rear of the bottom of the housing. At the bottom of the housing, the cylinder is formed with a thickened, pointed shoe 14 extending transversely of the drum housing and adapted to cut into snow to be removed.

At the top of the housing, and extending between the flared portions 11 of the side walls, the cylinder is integrally formed with an upwardly inclined deflector 15.

The drum housing so formed is externally reinforced by a box-like reinforcing frame which can comprise solid bars, angle irons, or channel members, said frame being generally designated 16. It will be understood that this frame can be fashioned in any suitable manner that will effectively rigidify the housing.

As parts of the reinforcing frame I provide at opposite sides of the drum housing, vertical bearing posts 17. Mounted upon the respective posts are bearing brackets 18. These are disposed medially between the upper and lower ends of the bearing posts and support, respectively, a bearing sleeve 19 integral at its inner end with an eccentric disc 20, and a bearing sleeve 21 integral at its inner end with eccentric 22.

The respective bearing sleeves are welded or otherwise rigidly secured to the bearing brackets 17.

Journaled for rotation in the bearing sleeve 19 is the stub shaft 9, and journaled for rotation in the bearing sleeve 21 is a stub shaft 23. Shafts 9 and 23 are pinned to an extend into opposite ends of a tubular core 24 of a drum having at its opposite ends radial spokes 25 integral with the core, said spokes being integral at their outer ends with rims 26. As a result, a drum construction is defined having a thin tubular core, and having end walls formed with a plurality of large openings disposed in an annular series. These openings permit the continuous passage of air into the drum, through the openings 12 of the housing side walls.

Secured rigidly at opposite ends to the drum end walls, and extending the length of the drum, are fixed blades 27 spaced circumferentially of the drum and extending substantially radially from the tubular core 24. As readily seen from Fig. 7, the blades 27 have annularly inclined outer edges 28, these being inclined away from the direction of drum rotation, and oppositely inclined inner edges 29. The inner edges 29 are spaced from the tubular core of the drum.

The blades are formed from light, but strong metal plates, and act as fan blades, whereby air entering the drum through the openings in the side walls of the housing will pass into the drum and will be blown out through the front of the drum when the drum is rotated. This keeps snow that passes through the drum loose and aerated, so as to prevent compacting of the snow mass.

intervening between the fixed blades 27 are movable blades 30, curved transversely and extending between the respective heads or end walls of the drum. These are adapted to project beyond the periphery of the drum as seen in Fig. 3, and are rigidly secured to rock shafts 31 journaled at opposite ends in the drum heads, and rocked by crank arms 32.

The eccentrics Zil and 22, as previously noted, are stationary, and these eccentrics are peripherally grooved to receive rotatable rings 33. Pivotally secured at their inner ends to the rings 33 are radially extended arms 46, and these are pivotally connected at their outer ends to the crank arms or levers 32.

As a result of this construction, it may be noted that when power is applied to rotate the drum for the purpose of cutting and removing snow, the position of the eccentrics will cause the rockable cutting blades 39 to be adjusted, when at the front of the drum in snowengaging position, so that they extend outwardly as shown in Fig. 3. As a result, they cut effectively into the snow, and cause the snow to be cut in small amounts by each blade. The snow, cut into fine particles, is impelled by the outwardly extended blades into the bottom of the drum housing. In this connection, as the snow is impelled within the drum housing and to the rear thereof, it is forced upwardly into a discharge chute to be presently described. Meanwhile, the fan blades and the communicating openings of the drum heads and side walls of the drum housing cooperate to draw air into the drum and intermix said air with the snow brought into the drum by the blades 30. When the blades 30 arrive at the rear of the drum, they are caused, by action of the eccentrics, to be disposed in partially retracted and obliquely positioned arrangement, as shown at the left in Fig. 3.

Means are provided for adjusting the positions of the eccentrics, so as in turn to eifect adjustment of the movable blades 30. This adjustment of the blades 30 permits selection of the locations at which the blades are to extend outwardly from the drum and the diametrically opposite locations at which they are to be retracted within the confines of the drum periphery.

To this end, I key to the respective sleeves 19 and 21 discs 35, disposed exteriorly of the drum housing. Pivotally connected at their lower ends to said discs are upwardly extended control arms 36.

One of the arms 36 has pivotally connected to its upper end a bell crank 37, pivotally mounted upon a supporting bracket 38.

For the purpose of adjusting the position of the bell crank 37, I provide a control rod 39 extending reap wardly to the cab of the truck. Other means for operating the bell crank can be provided, as for example, there can be a hydraulic control of this portion of the apparatus.

Rigid with and rocked by the bell crank 37 is a cross bar 40, journaled rotatably in the bracket 33 at one end, and journaled at its other end in a similar bracket at the other side of the housing. Ri idly secured to said cross bar, at said other side of the housing, is an arm 41 secured to the other control arm 36.

In this way, simultaneous adjustment of the eccentrics at both sides of the housing is achieved.

Referring now to the chute construction, the chute which I provide communicates with the rear of the drum housing, at the top of the housing. The entrance opening of the chute extends fully across the housing, and the rear wall 42 of the chute can comprise an upper extension of the cylinder wall 13, as readily seen from Fig. 3. The front wall 4-3 of the chute is also capable of being integrally formed upon the cylinder wall.

Mounted upon the respective walls of the chute are channels 44-, extending transversely of the plow and disposed adjacent the upper edges of the chute walls. The channels 44 are rigidly secured to the chute walls, and can be so secured by the provision of outwardly extending studs 45 on the chute walls, or by other fastening means.

The channels 44 constitute guides whereby to mount upon the chute walls, for sliding movement, slides 46, that can be formed from angle iron material. A pair of these slides is provided for each chute wall, as readily seen from Fig. 2, one slide of each pair being mounted to slide upon the upper surface of its associated guide and the other slide being mounted to slide on the bottom surface of said guide.

The slides of each pair are connected for joint sliding movement, as by the provision of outwardly extending studs 47 provided on the lower slide (see Fig. 6), having secured thereto connecting plates 48 connected at their upper ends to cross members 49. The cross members 49 are spaced longitudinally of the respective slides, and extend transversely across the chute, at the top of the chute, connecting the upper slides disposed at opposite sides of the chute.

A plurality of blades 50 are mounted in the chute, and are secured rigidly at their lower ends to the chute. At their upper ends, the blades 50, which are spring metal material, are engageable by the cross members 49. As a result, if the slides are adjusted to the right in Fig. 5, the upper ends of the blades will be engaged by the cross members 49, and will be swung in one direction. As a result, snow passing upwardly through the chute will be discharged in said direction.

Continued adjustment of the slides to the right in Fig. 5 in such an instance will cause the cross members 49 to ride over the tops of the blades 50, and the blades will accordingly spring back to vertical position. Thereafter, if it is desired to adjust the blades to the left in Fig. 5, the slides are moved to the dotted line position shown at the left in Fig. 5, causing the cross members 49 to engage the opposite faces of the blades and urge them to the left.

For the purpose of reciprocating the slides, I provide in the present instance a hydraulic cylinder 51, provided witih the piston or ram 52 connected to one of the lower sli es.

Means is provided for adjusting the plow structure bodily upwardly or downwardly, to control the depth to which the snow is to be removed. To this end, vertically disposed hydraulic cylinders 53 are mounted upon the vehicle 1 at opposite sides thereof, and are provided with downwardly extended pistons or rams 54, on which are mounted collars engaging bearing brackets 55 mounted upon the drum housing, the piston rods 54 sliding in said bearing brackets. The cylinders 53, in this connection, can be mounted upon suitable supporting brackets 56 mounted upon the vehicle 1.

What is claimed is:

In snow removal apparatus a chute construction comprising vertically disposed front and rear walls, a plurality of snow deflecting blades disposed between the chute walls and arranged in a horizontal series, said deflecting blades being anchored at their lower ends to and against movement relative to the chute walls, the upper ends of the blades being shiftable in opposite directions, for deflecting snow passing through the chute to either side of the chute, guide members fixedly mounted upon the respective chute walls, slides slidably mounted upon the guide members for horizontal movement toward either side of the chute, hydraulic piston and cylinder actuating members connected between said guide and slide members, cross bars connecting and extending between the slides, the upper ends of said blades extending across the path of the cross bars, for sliding engagement of the blades by the cross bars to bias the blades toward either side of the chute, said cross bars being adapted to ride over the upper ends of the blades whereupon said blades will be biased to a vertically extending upright position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNTTED STATES PATENTS 1,491,686 Fitch Apr. 22, 1924 1,844,693 Severson Feb. 9, 1932 1,904,636 Truax Apr. 18, 1933 2,092,536 Sicard Sept. 7, 1937 2,194,662 Klauer Mar. 26, 1940 2,216,781 Klauer Oct. 8, 1940 2,498,522 Berg et al. Feb. 21, 1950 

